Broken Key Extraction in Knoxville, TN

Where keys get stressed in Knoxville

A key usually breaks because something is fighting it: worn pins, a door pulling against the bolt, or ice in the keyway. Knoxville's housing adds strain in a few places.

• Shared entrances. In Fourth and Gill's converted houses, every household's key turns the same entrance cylinder, and it wears out sooner than a lock one family uses.
• Apartment key rings. In apartment buildings like the brick ones in Fort Sanders, west of 17th Street, one ring may carry a building key, a unit key and a small mailbox key. Thin mailbox keys twist easily. Ask the manager whose lock the mailbox has before doing anything to it.
• Old cylinders. About a third of the city's housing (33.5 percent, by Census estimates) predates 1960. Decades-old cylinders and keys copied from copies are a common pairing, and the key bends before it turns.
• Icy keyways. Ice can glaze an outdoor keyway. Wait for it to thaw; forcing a frozen lock is how keys snap.

What not to do

• Do not push the broken half, or another key, into the lock. It drives the fragment deeper.
• Do not put glue on the broken piece; it can bond to the pins.
• Do not keep working the key or forcing the knob.
• Keep the half you are holding. Its cut helps make a replacement.

What to send

In a broken key extraction request, include:

1. A photo of the keyway, showing whether the broken piece sticks out or sits flush
2. A photo of the half you still have
3. Which lock it is: shared entrance, unit door, mailbox, deadbolt, or a car door or ignition
4. Whether the door is locked or open right now
5. If you rent, whether the manager knows

A key that snapped in a car may need car key replacement. The Knoxville page covers the older neighborhoods.